Virat Kohli admits being outplayed by Australia: The Indian captain was wax lyrical about the Australian team.
During the second T20I of the ongoing Australia’s tour of India at Bengaluru, Australia defeated India by seven wickets to win the two-match T20I series 2-0.
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Chasing a 191-run target, Australia didn’t receive the best of starts as they lost opening batsman Marcus Stoinis (7) and captain Aaron Finch (8) cheaply. However, a couple of partnerships saw Australia whitewash the hosts.
Opening batsman D’Arcy Short and all-rounder Glenn Maxwell stitched together a brisk 73-run partnership for the third wicket as the visitors recovered from early breakthroughs. After Short (40) got out in the 12th over, Maxwell took the onus on himself as he ended up scoring his third T20I century.
Maxwell and wicket-keeper batsman Peter Handscomb (20) stitched an unbeaten match-winning 99-run partnership for the fourth wicket. The 30-year old cricketer ended up scoring 113 (55) with the help of seven fours and nine sixes as Australia sealed the chase with a couple of balls to spare.
Playing only five bowlers leaves no room for anyone to have a bad day….Chahal was expensive but India didn’t have a choice of going to anyone else. Flawed tactic in a T20 game. This is India’s second consecutive T20 series loss. #IndvAus
— Aakash Chopra (@cricketaakash) February 27, 2019
When someone plays the knock of Maxwell’s class today, you just doff your hat. And applaud. He was simply unstoppable. Has put the ego aside in this series. Mature Maxwell. #IndvAus
— Aakash Chopra (@cricketaakash) February 27, 2019
After Australia captain won the toss and chose to field, India captain Virat Kohli and wicket-keeper batsman Mahendra Singh Dhoni propelled India to score 190-4 in their allotted quota of 20 overs. Scoring his 20th T20I half-century, Kohli was India’s pick of the batsman as he scored 72* (38) with the help of two fours and six sixes.
“Australia outplayed us in all departments”
Speaking during the post-match presentation ceremony, Kohli admitted being outplayed from the opposition. The Indian captain also didn’t hesitate from appreciating Maxwell’s whildwind knock.
“Australia outplayed us in all departments and deserved to win. 190 is a good total on most grounds but if there is so much dew as there was tonight and when you have an innings like what Glenn Maxwell played, nothing much you can do,” Kohli was quoted as saying.
Glenncredible innings from the Big Show as Kohli, Dhoni and Rahul’s efforts go in vain. Australia win the T20I series 2-0. #LivePunjabiPlayPunjabi #INDvAUS pic.twitter.com/webRMSlNaw
— Kings XI Punjab (@lionsdenkxip) February 27, 2019
Super performance by Australia to win T20 series 2-0. Both were tough matches. Held their nerve, showed more ambition in the two run chases. Will pump them up for the ODI series
— Cricketwallah (@cricketwallah) February 27, 2019
“We want to give everyone some game-time”
Being asked about getting whitewashed on home soil before the ICC Cricket World Cup 2019, Kohli said that losing a couple of T20I matches doesn’t affect the team’s morale. Talking about this match, the Indian captain was lenient to his bowlers because of the dew.
“Every team is looking to take each game like that but it’s also important to win matches. We would have liked to get across the line in at least this game but I can’t be too hard on the bowlers due to the amount of dew,” Kohli said.
There is no hiding to the fact that the Indian team conducted a few experiments in terms of team selection in this series. Kohli also laid emphasis on providing game-time to players like Lokesh Rahul, Umesh Yadav, Siddarth Kaul and Mayank Markande in this series.
“We wanted to give everyone some game time, we’ve seen how they react under pressure, there is a series coming up and we’ll try more things. It’s up to them to deliver the goods,” Kohli concluded.
